how to mix mixol tints

Hi, I am making a cabinet/armoire for a coworker. He gave me a pic from a magazine of what he wanted it to look like. This has a very light teal colored paint, but we decided to tint/stain it that color instead so the grain will show through. I bought some mixol tints. Does anyone have any experience on mixing these? I tried putting it straight in the poly, but didn’t mix well. It mixed it water, but when used on maple it got really blotchy. I have wood conditioner, but it’s only for use with oil based stains. I am going to try on poplar and hope for better luck without blotching. Have I mentioned I hate finishing? I really hope it gets easier for me! I wish I could just clear coat or oil everything. Thanks!

27 replies so far

You and me both Shelly! I can’t help you on this one, BUT I am looking to do the same thing on my next project, a couple of skinny Amish Cabinets. I look forward to seeing how this thread turns out. Good luck…

I think you forgot about Charles Neil Monte :)) Shelly,Monte and others for $12 a month Charles Neil has a on line class on finishing plus a forum where you can ask questions and he will answer any questions you have in a very timely manner. As with most of Charles products and on line classes has a money back no questions asked policy I assume it’s the same with this class. That’s less than a gallon of many finishes you might buy. I’m a member and I have learned a lot already.

Thanks guys:) It mixed well it water, but I am worried that if the poplar doesn’t work because of the green in it, that I will have to use maple, which will splotch really bad with a water based dye…unless there is a way to condition it first. The poly I mixed it with had an amber tint, so it kind of messed up the color, and it didn’t mix well anyway. I think it may dissolve a little better if I let it sit for a while, but that doesn’t fix the amber tint. Thanks again!

Thanks Jim! I will definately look into that! I would really like to learn as much as I can about finishing so I can enjoy it:) I would also like to use this project as an excuse to buy an airless finishing system since it is such a big cabinet, so I will need some training on that also lol.

Shelly poplar and maple an other woods tend to blotch because they have a combination of hard and soft wood so the the wood tends to absorb the stain or finish diffidently.What needs to be done is those woods need a pre-conditioner before staining or dying. There are a number of things you can use such as a 1 Lb cut of shellac ,a store bought pre-conditioner but I’ve found the Blotch control that Charles Neil makes works best.

I’m a little bit of a “strange animal.” I love finishing! A1Jim is right. Maple and poplar do tend to blotch. Charles Neil’s blotch control works well on these woods. If you’re thinking of getting a spray system, I’d go with a turbine-driven HVLP system. In that case, you can spray light, dry coats of the dye, mixed with water or denatured alcohol, onto your surface. This should help to minimize your blotching problems. I second the idea that attending Charles Neil’s might help you with your finishing. If you want to, you can send me a PM and I’ll be happy to help you in whatever way I can. Of course, you can also PM Charles Neil, and I’m sure that he’d be happy to help you, too.

We are forced to do finish work fairly regularly, like it or not. A recent customer insisted on a stained finish and insisted on Maple. I actually use mixol products a good bit, but I can say that Transtint Dye will mix better than mixol products. I primarily use black (Transtint, to darken), brown (#3) and red colors. I tend to mix most of my colors in my sanding sealer and sometimes will mix into my top coat lacquers.

As stated already, these colors can be mixed in a mixture of water and denatured alcohol and that might be what will work nicely for you.

I used to use Poly but do not use poly anymore, we just use lacquers. Let us know how it goes.

I use Mixol pigments but not for tinting stains or finishes. Transtint or some other dye solutions tend to do a better job in this realm. Pigments tend to obscure the grain whereas dyes do not.

The Mixols I do like for doing little touch-up and repair work. I tend to put a few different colors onto a palette and blend them to the right color. At that point I’ll add a few drops of shellac to the mixture and paint thin coats of semi-translucent color over defects. It’s a good way to rescue a finish after discovering a glue spot under the first coat of lacquer.

My business partner once “repaired” a veneered surface that had been nearly sanded through over a 6” wide area. There was just enough veneer present that the addition of some lines of pigment was enough to make it look normal. Only those of us in the know could spot the damaged area.

Thanks everyone! I am definately going to take Charles Neil’s class. So far I have applied a water mixture, and a minwax stain tint base with mixol on poplar. Like Jim said, there were areas that looked good, and some that blotched. I treated with minwax wood conditioner for water based stains(which I didn’t know they made) and that helped, but there was still an absorbtion difference. I am going to try to mix the color in shellac since I also picked some up that is clear. I think the easiest thing to do would be a tinted top coat, as long as I can get it to mix right. Time to go back out and see if there were any changes now that it’s dry! Thanks:)

Shelly poplar and maple an other woods tend to blotch because they have a combination of hard and soft wood so the the wood tends to absorb the stain or finish diffidently.What needs to be done is those woods need a pre-conditioner before staining or dying. There are a number of things you can use such as a 1 Lb cut of shellac ,a store bought pre-conditioner but I’ve found the Blotch control that Charles Neil makes works best.

+1 a1Jim….Shellac works with any finish….you may be able to tint the shellac with the mixol…but not sure…I’ve only tinted shellac with TransTint